You Believe in Dinosaurs?

For some reason, I was reading some Christian beliefs on the existence of dinosaurs, and there are various versions. For instance, one is that they didn't exist and the "bones" are placed by God to test people's faith. Another is that dinosaurs are made up to support the theory of evolution. There is one that dinosaurs existed, but became "corrupted" and therefore, Noah didn't take them onto the Ark. Another is that Noah took them on to survive the flood, but they died out after.

All plausible.

Essentially, everything in a belief system is plausible, because we can never truly know what is possible under an always unknown full range of conditions. It is like the false dichotomy of existence, where there is the possible and the impossible. There aren't actually two positions, there is just one - the possible. Because the impossible, can never exist. But, "existence" can't only be looked at in the past or in the foreseeable future, because we just don't have enough insight into what is actually possible, because we don't have all the information that was, is and will be.

Beliefs are funny things, aren't they?

For instance, let's say that flat-earthers got a great marketing team together and through social influence and prolonged media campaigns, they were able to generate enough support for their belief system that they could have it written into law. That people who denied the world was flat, would be ridiculed, punished, persecuted and cancelled.

Galileo.

Remember this guy? Galileo was tried and convicted for holding the belief that the Earth revolves around the sun, which was deemed heretical by the Catholic Church. The belief system Galileo had (and the theoretical evidence), clashed with the belief system of the law-makers of the time and therefore, his beliefs were deemed illegal.

Do you believe people should be able to believe whatever they want?

I do.

It doesn't make them right (or wrong), but it is their prerogative to believe what they want, however, at what point should a belief system become law and punishable? For instance, I suspect that much of the western world doesn't agree with the laws in some of the fundamentalist Muslim countries, where women are treated quite differently than men. Most people wouldn't want that kind of behavior and practices in their own western country perhaps.

Is this attitude toward people's beliefs, right or wrong?

It is an interesting thing, because the "law" can never take into account everyone's individual belief systems, because there are far too many opposing forces amongst individuals. Yet, we seem to be trying to force belief systems onto masses of people who don't believe the same thing.

For instance, the other day the UK Prime Minster controversially said,

“we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be”

Is it really controversial?

What do you believe?

What if he had said one of these;

“we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that dinosaurs existed”

“we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that the earth is round”

“we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that pedophilia is wrong”

“we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that women are as valuable as men”

“we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that lizard people aren't real”

“we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that heaven exists”

“we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that all races are the same”

“we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that the devil isn't real”

What is your intuition saying?

Read them again just to make sure.

A belief system is just that, a belief system. It is not a universal law with irrefutable proof, and even when there is very strong evidence one way, it doesn't stop some people believing in the other directions. But, once we start forcing our belief systems on others who believe something else, what does that make us?

Tyrants.

For instance, when it comes to the definition of a man or a woman, I believe that it is not very controversial at all. However, I also know that there are people who believe that they were born the wrong sex and would rather live as the other. I believe that is fine. However, their belief that they are now a woman or a man, is just that, a belief. If anyone believes this doesn't make it so, isn't that their prerogative?

Just like people have been living with flat earthers and dinosaur deniers, it is possible for people who believe that you can't change your sex and people who believe that you can, to live together. The real problem comes when one side is going to be legally punished for their beliefs.

A lot of money has been spent on the transgender conversation over the last decade and it dominates a lot of the media. It seems that there is some good marketing teams in play. However, d you know who doesn't have a good marketing team? Sexually abused children. Supposedly, the rate of sexual abuse ranges around the 7 - 11% level - which is absolutely fucking terrible. Even if we look at "normal" childhood abuse, the estimate is that 1 in 7 children in the US have been abused or neglected in the last year. That is 14%.

What does your belief system say about this?

As said, belief systems are funny things, aren't they? They make us spend time fighting for or against a particular topic, while ignoring what might be more pressing concerns. And, when we successfully push an agenda into law, we don't consider that we might be wrong. The Catholic Church didn't think it was wrong when they convicted Galileo. The fact is, centralized "law" is never going to be suitable for all people if they apply it based on beliefs and the more fringe the belief gets, the more contentious a law will become.

The world of beliefs is increasingly messy, because we can pick and choose what we believe, without needing real evidence, nor having to worry about what others believe. It means that even the strangest and most divergent belief systems are given air and protected, even if they are harmful to others.

But, all of these belief systems are being leveraged by politicians and data collectors to divide us, because that is how they gain power and control over us. It is an economic mechanism to keep our attention focused on an argument, rather than making meaningful change that benefits us all. But, what does benefit us all?